[CPLUG] Debian install on PowerMac G4

[Matt]

Memory don't fail me now. If I recall properly, your G4 has a more modern
Open Firmware (Apple's version of BIOS) than the G3's I used to install
Debian on. There was a great Wikipedia page about how to get an Open
Firmware prompt (Command-Option-O-F right after the machine is turned on?) and
tell it which drive and partition to boot from. I could steer it to the
YaBoot loader (very LiLo-ish) and go to MacOS or Debian from there.
The G4 had a fantastic gui style loader though and you should be able to
skip that garbage. I THINK if you hold 'option' aka 'alt' down during or
after the power on chime, it'll bring up an icon showing the MacOS and if
you have more OSes or boot options (e.g. boot CDs, or external and internal
drive), it will let you arrow between the little icons. I'm positive I've
seen the little tux icon there before.

You should also be able to hold down 'c' after that power up chime to force
it to boot off of any CD, Debian/Ubunto or otherwise (provided you burned it
with the bootable flag set). There is a ton of great info online about doing
this:
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/installation-guide/powerpc/ch05s01.html
I'm just trying to get you moving in the right direction. It has been ages
since I've dealt with PPC hardware but I installed Debian on a 603e, G3 and
G4 back in the late 90's and early 00's so feel free to bounce ideas off
me.
Best regards,
Matt

On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Nat Welch <calvin166 at pseudoweb.net> wrote:

> I know someone on here has done this. I've definitely seen a few
> powerpc's at FYM.
>
> I personally haven't done it, but here is some advice from the ubuntu
> community on getting the install to at least happen.
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ#Yaboot%20Configuration
>
> /Nat
>
> On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 2:41 PM, Matthew Tytel <mtytel at calpoly.edu> wrote:
> > Hi Everyone,
> >
> > This is my first encounter with CPLUG :)
> >
> > I have a PowerMac G4 that I'm trying to install Debian on.  I have a
> > net install disc but from what I've gathered from research, the
> > default boot loader does not recognize Bootable Linux discs.  I've
> > heard that there is a boot loader called "Yaboot" that you can install
> > on PowerPC computers so you can boot Linux discs.
> >
> > Does anyone have any experience installing Linux on a
> > PowerPC(specifically a PowerMac G4), either using Yaboot or some other
> > magic?
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated,
> > Matthew
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Cplug mailing list
> > Cplug at lists.cplug.org
> > http://lists.cplug.org/mailman/listinfo/cplug
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cplug mailing list
> Cplug at lists.cplug.org
> http://lists.cplug.org/mailman/listinfo/cplug
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.cplug.org/pipermail/cplug/attachments/20090925/4b7c5c77/attachment.htm>